Council accused of misleading claim over ice rink

A council has been criticised by a councillor for "misleading maths" after the authority claimed a festive ice rink had broken even.

West Northamptonshire Council, led by Reform UK, said ticket and bar sales, sponsorship and ring-fenced funding had covered the cost of the ice rink, which was open for a month in Northampton's Market Square.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed the cost of the ice rink was over £200,000 more than it made in ticket and bar sales.

A spokesperson for the authority said its statement related to "the cost aligned to the original forecast for the ice rink" and that the rink did not place any additional pressure on council services.

According to the Freedom of Information request the total cost of the ice rink between 4 December and 4 January was £335,514.27.

However, a breakdown of the income received by the council showed that the event brought in about £123,500 from ticket and bar sales, with the rest made up from taxpayer money and sponsorship.

This included £69,252 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund - which is government funding given to the council for economic growth and levelling up - and £106,699.11 from the council's culture and events budget.

Opposition councillors raised concerns over the ice rink's cost and criticised its use of money from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The council said the ice rink and associated events were not just about revenue but to increase footfall and the use of council funding was a "deliberate investment".

Daniel Lister, the authority's Conservative group leader, accused the Reform UK leadership of "misleading maths" and criticised it for "propping up" the event with public funds.

Sally Keeble, the leader of the Labour group on the authority, said "the cost to the public purse was too high" and using levelling up funds was "wrong".

Jonathan Harris, the Liberal Democrat group leader, said the administration had "rewritten" the definition of "break even".

Further data showed the number of people visiting the market square had decreased from 51,618 in 2024 to 49,911 visitors in December 2025.

A spokesperson for the authority said using council funding was a "deliberate investment" for wider economic and social benefits, including increased spending with local businesses.

The council added that it would use this experience and data to inform the scale, programming and scheduling of any future events.

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